International Conference: Mothers & Fathers Welcome 2023

Business for Society cordially invites you to the 8th International Conference "2023 Mothers & Fathers Welcome - Parents at Work.“ This year title is Prejudices and Stereotypes - the biggest barriers to professional and career development of parents at work. The conference is organized in cooperation with the partner of the event, Česká spořitelna a.s., in its representative premises in Rytířská Street.

We will again focus on current trends and experience that affect the opportunities for professional and career development of parents at work in the Czech Republic, especially of women mothers. We will discuss how to converge the best practice in supporting parents at work between the private sector and public sector. Last but not least, we will also discuss the experience of "parents-foreigners" including Ukrainian ones with diversity and inclusion in the Czech labour market and in the society. We will also share with you our unique data from the employers´ survey and the parents´survey.

This year we will focus on:

• Barriers that hinder the career and professional development of parents in the labour market (prejudices and stereotypes)

• Experience of „parents-foreigners“ and their employers in the Czech labour market and in the society

• Sharing the best practice of responsible companies towards parents-foreigners, including parents-refugees from Ukraine

• Update and challenges related to the transposition of the new EU Work-life Balance Directive into practice, which is followed by the amendment to the Czech Labour Code that has been much discussed recently

• Opportunities how to strengthen the dialogue between the state and responsible employers on supporting parents at work

• Wider implementation of inspiring examples of responsible companies towards parents at work in public administration policies and procedures

Date: April 18th, 2023

Time: 9:30 - 13:00

Location: Rytířská 29, Praha 1 – Česká spořitelna

Format: International conference, attendance in person or online conference will be simultaneously interpreted into English and Czech

Conference partners: Česká spořitelna, a.s., McDonald’s Česká republika

Moderator: Kateřina Eliášová, journalist and publicist

Unique data from a survey of employers and parents will again be available. We would kindly ask for your cooperation in completing a survey for employers on the topic of prejudices and stereotypes that parents face at work. It will take a few minutes of your time to complete. The experience of responsible companies that set the pace and are leaders on the topic of "Parents at Work" can make a great and qualitative contribution to this year's survey for companies and employers. The survey can be completed until April 14, 2023.

Conference programme

9:30 – 9:40
Opening words

• Petra Ondrušová – Chief Diversity Officer, Česká spořitelna

• Pavel Štern – Ředitel, Byznys pro společnost

9:40 – 9:50
Presentation of questionnaire results for parents and companies

• Kamila Čubanová – Diversity Manager, Byznys pro společnost

• Pavel Štern – Director, Byznys pro společnost

• Veronika Hejzlarová – DISA Assessment Coordination – Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Assessment

9:50 – 10:35
PANEL 1: Work-Life Balance Directive & flexibility for parents at work
Work-life balance for parents, work flexibility support in the context of the Work-life Balance Directive

• Šárka Jelínková – Deputy Government Minister, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

• Adéla Šípová – Senator, Senate of the Czech Republic

• Julie Hrstková – Journalist and commentator at Hospodářské noviny

10:35 – 11:35
PANEL 2: Prejudices and stereotypes, the biggest barriers to wider support and development of programmes and benefits for parents at work

• Michaela Opltová – Member of Parliament, Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

• Petra Ondrušová – Chief Diversity Officer, Česká spořitelna

• Silvia Kurtová – Recruitment & Onboarding Specialist, IKEA Česká republika

• Rasťislav Tesár – Senior HR & Training manager, McDonald’s CZ/SK

11:35 – 11:50
Break for refreshments and networking

11:50 – 12:50
PANEL 3: How foreign parents live on the Czech labour market and in the Czech Republic, including Ukrainian parents

• Tetiana Vakaliuk – Country Manager Ukraine, Atlas Copco Ukraine

• Alexandra Cimbak – Global I&D – Inclusion and Diversity Manager, Accenture Czech Republic

• Giseli Borduchi – Communications Associate Manager, Accenture Czech Republic

• Elizaveta Solovei – McDonald´s CZ/SK

12:50 – 13:00
Summary and Conclusions of the Mothers & Fathers Welcome 2023 Conference

• Petra Ondrušová – Chief Diversity Officer, Česká spořitelna

• Pavel Štern – Director, Byznys pro společnost

• Kamila Čubanová – Diversity Manager, Byznys pro společnost

13:00 – 13:30
Refreshments and networking